Who wants to be governor? Part 2

Tuesday

Facts are facts and the Republican Party has not captured a state executive branch office seat in two election cycles and aren’t likely to pull that off in 2018 either.

If you are a conservative (whatever that is) or a moderate in this state, it is going to be up to you to pick one of the least odious Democrats we discussed last week. I honestly expect our “top-two” primary system to produce two democrats to select from for governor.

But if you are one of the folks who always rooted for the Christians against the lions in those old movie epics about the Roman Empire, you may be interested in the other candidates who are, so far, in this race.

John Cox – Republican

Cox is a millionaire attorney and CPA from Chicago who is now a venture capitalist living in Rancho Santa Fe. His claim to fame is that he lost the Illinois U.S. Senate race to a fellow named Barack Obama in 2003. Cox eventually moved west and Obama moved east. Cox did not vote for Donald Trump but now supports our elected president. Cox has already dumped a reported $3 million into his campaign and has the highest profile in the GOP field right now due to his appearances on Fox News. Party insiders fear there isn’t a lot of substance there, and other than his failed attempt to get the Neighborhood Legislature idea qualified as a ballot initiative, no real agenda has been spelled out by the Cox campaign.

Assemblyman Travis Allen — Republican

Allen has served three terms in the Assembly representing his Orange County district. Allen is an outspoken conservative known for sometimes making sensationalized statements about laws or issues he opposes. He is a 100-percent supporter of Donald Trump. Allen started one of the two campaigns to qualify a ballot proposition to repeal the unpopular gasoline tax and vehicle fees recently imposed by the legislature, but his version failed to get traction and has joined the competing ballot initiative effort which is poised to qualify for the November ballot. Allen is 44 years old and is married with one young daughter. Allen is distressed by the poor business climate in California causing quality residents and businesses to flee the state.

Doug Ose — Republican

Ose was a congressman from the Sacramento area from 1999 to 2005 and was considered to be a moderate Republican when he served in Congress. His claim to fame is that he kept his promise to serve only three terms if elected. Keeping a promise to those who elect you seems like a good qualification for office, if a bit unusual. He was a Trump delegate and strong supporter of Trump in 2016. Ose is a wealthy developer who is running to rebuild the California dream for all residents. He has been known to spend substantial amounts of his own capital in past races.

Zoltan Istvan – Libertarian

Istvan is a writer and real estate developer who ran for president in 2016 as a Transhumanist Party candidate. In case that party is unknown to you as it was to me, their stated basic priority is to “promote significant life extension using science and technology.” No, I have no idea what that means either which is why Istvan has decided to give it a try as a Libertarian which most folks have heard of. Liberty sounds good. Yeah, let’s go with Libertarian. He supports providing universal basic income (free money) for all Californians. True Libertarians would be rolling over in their graves at this point. Istvan may be the only candidate that has a prior conviction for marijuana (Idaho in 1993), so he may have more in common with the average California voter than many of the other candidates.

There may be a few more candidates that jump in before the June primary, but history says if they aren’t in and raising money and their public profile by now, they will not be a factor.

Violence in America

I have nothing new to add to the many solutions being proposed to stem the violent incidents that have filled the news and saddened our hearts in recent weeks and months. The innocent loss of life is tragic.

What I have is an observation that it has taken America roughly six decades since the end of the Korean conflict to evolve from a place where public violence was rare to a place where it is commonplace. Our moral values have changed. Some progressives would use the word evolved, I would use the word degraded.

Yes, guns kill people but mine have never jumped out of my gun safe and hurt anyone. Should we be more careful about who has access to any weapon? Yes. But don’t forget our highly successful attempts to ban alcoholic beverages and dangerous narcotics in America.

We need to take a long look at the society we have created in which our youngsters grow up with access to video games so violently realistic that they deaden one’s senses to blood and brains splattered by pressing a button. I can assure you, returning combat veterans do not enjoy violent games, movies and other forms of killing for entertainment having been through the real thing.

As usual, politicians will attempt to treat the symptoms rather than the disease. Asking citizens to pull back from the freedom of expressing their love of entertaining sex and blood lust is now seen as censorship. To suggest that the nuclear family and faith-based values produce better neighbors is ridiculed as out of step with the times. We are a truly free society and our desensitized, violence-prone populace is a product of that anything-goes brand of American freedom.

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